anecdote # 55 - Colleen

demonstrates the achievables.
has comparable experiences

articulating grief, living with CFS,
handling seizures and being whole.

none kills her, nor will it me.

functional, integrating downs
with social joys, local events

she is level-headed,
forthrightly balanced.

vocabulary is equipment
community, strength.

tribute # 114 - Tokyo shirt

Shirt, I've made careful, special use of you.
Our 22 years is longer than most relationships.
Together we got complimented.
In one hasty sleepy yank, I tried to pull you off.
Your back ripped in my hand.
Affection, how maudlin.

tribute #113 - the maid

in Spain

in one triangular room we had for the week
insisted on daily cleaning.

the Do Not Disturb sign in 5 languages
did not deter.


walked in on us twice in an hour
and still a third return

(laughing)

anecdote # 54 - N

wearing uncharacteristically low-cut scoop
standing, chatting to others, leaning for strawberries
I gave him an accidental eyeful - he urped, startled, scooted

his lady -- elegant, smart, holding him
rapt for 20 years -- watched me
all evening, body blocked.
jealousy: comedic, flattering

anecdote # 112 - John (early 80s)

reflecting on his center stage need
compulsive one-upmanship
barging though turn taking

the problem seems response

so he was incorrigible
neurologically broken

the incessant digs at him,
insults, bristles, exacerbated

reactivity's the culpability
of inner work of (un)listener
Matthew 5:46

collective #15 - 3 guys in traffic

3 circled the car
postures casual
the bumper
hung half-off,
a side drooped.

some shrugs &
page exchange

one man gave
a little smack.
it went in place
and clicked.

it stayed. a group
huh... waited.
drove off
without dramas.

tribute #111 - Les

lifetime in the Army Reserves
in a family of pacifists

troublemaker,
given to cigars, brandy, cards
to being a card in the family's prim correctness

he's the one flourishing
with regular open warm contact
with his kids. unlike his detractors.

tribute #110 - Garry

ample talent
sampled in sound and word aside,

this calm, witty, shy lad
comes highly recommended

by virtue of being
loved by her, his lady-love.

we adopt him
as heart family too.

he has an open
door here, this friend-in-law.

tribute #109 - right knee

if brain, and memory are separate persons,
renounceable from citizenship of body empire,
Nominee has been dissident since grade 6.

I'll be walking fine. then Judas conscientiously
objects to bearing weight, drops, or, guerillas,
threads clicking beads, or pain skewers.

tribute #108 - waitress

I like how our normal messes with expectations --
my ordering meat, Bri ordering salad and dessert.
the waitress switches orders. later she asks together
or separate bills? and giving bill to him, I pay.
assumption breaking -- it confuses the lasses.

tribute #107 - the brain

cleave that sucker off as a separate entity. I disavow culpability.
when I said - please sleep, no more sexual dreams of people
I know, don't be so literal! dear sock monkey, what we did, er,
didn't do. and Kermie...

anecdote #53 - the gifter

spieled on about how she saw this object;
it "absolutely screamed Pearl".

I unwrapped a folk art painting
of a pear on a plate.

either she's way wrong or
reality check: *that's* how I present.

I need a makeover consultant.

anecdote #52 - student after hours

creep-o-meter Bing
uneven energy

then I was back to wall
his forearm on my neck
calling me whore

I talked him down,
considered the matter closed
-- mental health issues
not legal or interpersonal.

done. but still I wake from it.

anecdote #51 - Michaëlle Jean

the public question was leading, conspiratorial rambling blame.
her face was open, relaxed, engaged,
shoulders back, chest open, voice modulated
-- signatures of diplomatic training, not Feelings.
not exacerbating incoming: feedback reply skillful, wise.
(briefly, one telltale fist tattling on lap)

tribute #106 - John Lavery

said, individuals can dream
but a society can't.
literature is how a culture dreams

my back, legs, hands loosened tension
that they'd forgotten they'd held

as he sang, played classical guitar,
some beastie inside began purring,
alert. his energy's good.

collective #14 - public mic persons

titters mount at feckless grandstanders
lobbing speeches at invited experts
who aren't given response time

rants phrased as rhetorical questions they answer
squandering (6 minutes) x (200 present) = 20 hours

could you end your questions with a question mark?
- David Byrne